Greg Jackson: GSP Not Looking Past Dan Hardy at UFC 111

Greg Jackson is currently masterminding a scheme for UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre as they prepare to meet Dan Hardy at UFC 111. Although most don’t give Hardy much of a shot, Jackson claims Hardy is a tremendous threat to his GSP’s crown.

“I do believe it because he has a lot of skills,” Jackson told the Sherdog.com on Wednesday. “He’s got really good power. The problem with guys like Dan Hardy is that he’s young, he’s hungry, he’s got very good skills and if he catches you the wrong way, you zig when you should have zagged and that might be it.”

The task of convincing MMA’s baddest welterweight to remain focused as a huge favorite isn’t too hard because all Jackson does is bring up UFC 69 when GSP’s skyrocketing career got derailed by another heavy underdog.

“Remember that Matt Serra was never considered a real threat to Georges,” said Jackson of the April 2007 loss. “Everyone was laughing it off, then all of a sudden Georges was in a lot of trouble. So if you go into any fight thinking this guy is going to be easy, this guy is going to be a walkover, this isn’t a legitimate threat, it puts you in a place mentally where you aren’t going to train as hard, you’re not going to be as hungry and Hardy is a legitimate serious threat and needs to be treated as such.”

Bottom line, Hardy brings a relentlessness to the Octagon that won’t quit. Although he may feel overwhelmed when the bright lights hit his Mohawk, it’s a certainty he won’t stop until GSP makes him.